


A Wealth of Surprises

by sophisticus



Series: Pink Lightning [13]
Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 08:58:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14787440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophisticus/pseuds/sophisticus
Summary: Kitty has been part of the Straw Hats for several years now, and even ended up marrying the swordsman, Zoro. Now, she finds a whole new adventure in front of her: parenthood.





	A Wealth of Surprises

It was still dark and quiet when Kitty woke up, groggy and nauseous. She groaned softly – the ship’s rocking didn’t seem to be helping her uneasy stomach. Carefully extricating herself from the tangle of Zoro’s heavy limbs, she slid out of bed and headed down the hall towards the small secondary bathroom.

Kitty squinted against the lamplight as she sat on the toilet, quietly hating herself for being awake at such a god-awful early hour of the morning. At least her period hadn’t started yet, though it was due anytime. Hence, her nausea. Briefly, Kitty remembered the first time she’d woken up in bed with Zoro, with bloody bed sheets. What did it say about them that both of their first instincts were to check _Zoro_ for wounds? She huffed out a silent, tired laugh at the memory, before she finished her business and washed her hands.

Zoro stirred when she crawled back into bed. “You okay?” he asked, his voice gravelly with sleep.

“Bathroom,” she murmured. She curled up against him, and was asleep again in seconds.

\---

Kitty picked at the breakfast Sanji had laid out for everyone. The kitchen was filled with the usual chatter and laughter as everybody dug in. Today’s special shenanigan was Luffy trying to convince Jinbe to hold chopsticks in his mouth as if he were a walrus. The helmsman finally gave in, but due to how his mouth worked with his upward protruding fangs, the chopsticks stuck up in the air rather than down towards his nonexistent chin. Still, it was pretty funny.

“Do you not like your food, Kitty?” Sanji asked, leaning over to peek at her mostly untouched plate. “If there’s something wrong with it, I can make you something else. It wouldn’t be any problem.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kitty said hastily, waving her hand. “Your cooking is always wonderful. I’m just not really hungry this morning.”

From her other side, she could feel Zoro eyeing her curiously. Like the rest of the Straw Hats, Kitty had developed quite the appetite – likely as a result of being spoiled by Sanji’s incredible cooking – so her saying she wasn’t hungry was pretty unusual.

“Do you feel okay? I can do a check up on you if you need,” Chopper offered.

“I’ll be alright, it’s probably just a hormonal thing.” Kitty smiled. “Thanks, though. I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”

\---

Barely an hour later, Kitty sat hunched over the toilet, surrendering what little she’d managed to eat during breakfast. Even after her stomach was empty, painful dry heaves rocked her. When she finally finished, she sat back on the cold tile, hating the clamminess of her skin. It was definitely time to go see Chopper.

Zoro had offered to go with her, but she’d waved him off and gone in alone. Now she sat on one of Chopper’s beds, twiddling her thumbs quietly while the tiny reindeer worked. He’d checked her eyes, ears, throat, temperature, heartbeat, breathing, and the glands in her throat. He’d also taken a blood sample, and had been administering various tests over the past several minutes. Finally, Chopper sat back with a sigh.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I know what’s got you feeling unwell,” he said. His normally chipper face was serious as he looked up at her.

“Yeah?”

“Kitty…I’m pretty sure you’re pregnant,” Chopper said softly. He waited while Kitty processed this information, errored, and processed again. She opened and shut her mouth a couple of times before she finally managed to talk.

“What?” she croaked. “I…how?”

Chopper sighed. “You and Zoro are sexually active, right? Even with protection, you’re smart enough to know that pregnancy can still happen. In your case, it _did_ happen.” He turned back to his desk, grabbing up the notes he’d scribbled during his testing. “I don’t have the equipment to know for sure how far along you are for sure, besides the estimate on your last menstrual cycle that you gave me.”

“Oh my god.” Kitty was glad she was sitting. She held her head in her hands. “Oh god, what am I gonna tell Zoro?”

Chopper sat on the bed next to her and patted her arm reassuringly. “I know this is an emotional thing to hear,” he said calmly. “But you know you have us all here for support, I promise. We’ll take this one day at a time.”

Kitty nodded numbly. Now that the initial shock was wearing off, it was easier to focus. Breathe. Breathe. It will be fine. Breathe. “I need to tell Zoro,” she said, pleased when her voice didn’t waver. Chopper nodded.

“I want to schedule weekly assessments so we can make sure everything’s okay. At some point, I’d like to get a hold of Trafalgar Law too, since he’s a medical expert even beyond me. But that can wait for now,” he said. “In the meantime, you know where to find me if you need anything. _Anything_ , alright? Any time of day. Promise you’ll let me know if you feel weird?”

“I feel weird now,” Kitty joked weakly. Chopper patted her knee.

“Good luck with Zoro,” he added as she slid off the bed and headed towards the door. “Not that I think you need luck, of course. I just thought it would be nice to say.”

“Thank you, Chopper. I’ll keep you updated. Promise.”

\---

Zoro was in the shower when she finally found him, so she spent the next several minutes pacing anxiously in their bedroom while she waited for him to finish. Just when she’d become sure she’d wear a hole through the wooden floor, the door creaked open.

Something about her expression must’ve given away her anxieties, because Zoro shut the door and made a beeline for her. “Well, what did Chopper say? Is something wrong?” Kitty didn’t answer, instead wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. He held her close, his hand stroking her back soothingly, but she could feel his rising worry in every line of his body. “Kitty?”

She mumbled into his chest, but evidently he couldn’t understand the muffled words. Zoro gently held her away from him, meeting her gaze and waiting patiently. “I’m pregnant,” Kitty repeated in a whisper.

Zoro’s face went completely blank, and she watched anxiously as she could almost see the gears churning inside his head. A wide series of emotions flickered across his face before he finally settled on wonder.

“You’re…” He swallowed. “Chopper’s sure?”

Kitty nodded. “He doesn’t know how far along I am, but I definitely am.”

“Shit,” Zoro breathed. He peered down at her stomach as if he could stare right into her, where the baby – _their_ baby – was growing.

She sniffled and gave him a watery smile. “I know.”

“Oh my god.” He seemed torn between terror and elation, something Kitty could definitely relate with at the moment. He leaned down until his forehead touched hers. “I- you- we didn’t plan for this,” he blurted out. His hands cupped her face tenderly, as if she could shatter with the lightest touch. “You’re really pregnant?”

“Pretty darn.”

He kissed her, again and again. “I can’t believe it,” he said softly. “We’re going to be parents.” His thumb wiped away a stray tear from her cheek before he kissed her once more. Kitty felt like she could burst from the outflowing of emotion. They hugged tightly, not needing any more words for the moment as they just breathed one another in.

\---

Both Chopper and Zoro deferred to Kitty on how and when she told the rest of the Straw Hats, but they both also agreed that she would need to stay out of more dangerous fights, for the baby’s sake. The specifics on that could be decided later as things happened, but that was later. For now, she needed to figure out how to break the news to her crew.

She made it all the way to dinner the next evening. Sanji had prepared a feast of different types of sushi, all of it mouthwateringly delicious looking. Kitty settled into her usual seat beside Zoro, who’d already dug into his own plate. Kitty snagged a few different pieces for herself.

“Hey look, I’m Zoro!”

They all looked up to see Luffy, holding a rice ball in his mouth and brandishing one in each hand. He waved them around in a mock-fighting stance, squinting his left eye closed. “Onigiri!” he said, the words muffled around the mouthful of rice, but still an unmistakable Zoro impression. Everyone cracked up. Zoro rolled his eye, but still huffed a laugh. Kitty caught his eye and they shared a small, private smile.

Kitty had just put the first piece of sushi into her mouth when Chopper came in. One look at the food on the table, and Kitty’s cheek bulged out with her bite, and panic crossed his little face. He shook his head vigorously and mimed spitting the food out.

Kitty hastily did as he had silently asked. She only just now remembered – Chopper had given her a scrawled list of food and drink to avoid, and seafood had been on the list. Damn it all.

“What’s wrong, are you okay?” Sanji had noticed her spit out the food, and now he looked worried. “Does it not taste good? Are you sick?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Kitty said hastily. “I promise. I just…changed my mind all of a sudden.”

It was clear from Sanji and Zoro’s faces that her lie wasn’t very believable, and now everyone else had tuned in to the conversation. Her cheeks flushed red at the attention.

“Kitty, you know if there’s ever anything unsatisfactory about the food, you can always tell me,” Sanji lectured passionately. “I work hard to make sure everything is perfect but it’s a fool who pretends their work is perfect every time. I can take criticism-”

“It’s not your food, Sanji,” Kitty interrupted. She gave a strained smile. “I promise, it’s never your cooking.”

“Then what’s the matter?” Nami piped up.

Chopper caught her eye and nodded in support. Zoro’s hand squeezed her knee under the table, a silent but comforting gesture. Kitty took a breath and met everyone’s gaze in turn. “I…I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

The discomfort of the moment was almost worth seeing her friends’ expressions. Shock, worry, amazement, excitement, and more played out on their faces, and she waited patiently for someone to speak. For a moment, the only sound was Sanji falling back onto his ass on the floor.

Luffy, predictably, was the first to recover. “WOAH,” he shouted, jumping up on the table. “YOU’RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!?”

From the other side of the table, Robin smiled warmly. “Congratulations!”

“OW! That’s _super_ great!” Franky added loudly.

“Not to poke a sleeping bear, but Zoro’s the father, right?” Usopp asked hesitantly.

“Don’t worry Usopp, it’s not yours,” Kitty teased. The sniper’s face turned pale.

“Don’t say that, Zoro might take it seriously!” he squeaked, flinching away from Zoro’s scowl. Kitty eased that scowl from his face with a quick kiss to his cheek.

“Yes, I’m the father,” Zoro grumbled. His cheeks had a definite pink tinge now.

“You!?” Sanji had evidently recovered from his shock, and now shoved his face uncomfortably close to Zoro’s. His expression was enraged and his voice dangerously low. “You got our lovely Kitty _pregnant_!?”

“What, are you upset that now you’re forced to face the fact that she and I actually have sex?” Zoro retorted.

Nami snorted. “Don’t be crude. This isn’t the time.” She came over by Kitty and hugged her tightly. “I’m so happy for you!”

“I can’t believe you’re going to be parents!” Brook exclaimed, already crying. “That’s so wonderful! Parenthood is one of the most rewarding things one can experience.”

“Brook, do you have a child?” Robin asked curiously.

“Huh? No, of course not. What makes you ask?”

“Congratulations,” Jinbe rumbled. He peered down at them, baring his fangs in a smile. “The skeleton is correct. Parenthood is quite the endeavor to set out upon, and you have my respect.”

The dinner dissolved into an excited babble, everyone beaming and asking questions. Franky already started sketching up a blueprint of a nursery as well as all necessary furniture. Sanji puttered around the kitchen, whipping up a pregnancy-safe dinner under Chopper’s supervision. Thankfully, the cook only shot Zoro a baleful glance now and then. Kitty was confident he’d get over it – if he’d managed to get over Zoro and Kitty getting together in the first place, moving in together, getting engaged, and then actually getting married, he could get over this.

\---

“So, I’ve been wondering,” Usopp said one day. “When you use your Devil Fruit power, do you think the baby can feel it?”

Kitty paused in the middle of stitching a tear in a shirt. “You know, I haven’t thought about it,” she said thoughtfully.

“I’m just thinking, you’re immune to electricity, of course,” Usopp mused. “I’ve seen you get hit by actual genuine lightning and barely flinch. But do you think that protection extends to your baby?”

She laid a hand over her abdomen, which had already become softer and rounder. “Oh god. What if I’ve hurt them without realizing?”

“Oh, no hey, that’s not what I meant,” he said hastily. “I’m sure it’s fine, you’ve stayed out of super dangerous fights since you found out. Even if you did shock it, I bet you yourself absorbed most of the shock. You know, since how people are built and everything.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well. No. But I bet Chopper can tell you it’s fine,” Usopp said confidently. “I’ll go with you if you want.”

Kitty shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I’ll just ask him next time I see him,” she said. Usopp awkwardly patted her shoulder.

“Well, alright then, if you say so.”

\---

When Kitty had first joined the Straw Hats, Zoro had already been a member for several months. Even before they actually got to know one another, he’d saved her ass a handful of times over. As they became crewmates, friends, lovers, and eventually husband and wife, Zoro always respected her ability to protect herself. He wouldn’t let her get unnecessarily hurt, of course, if it were in his power to keep her safe.

However, following the revelation that she was pregnant, his protectiveness turned up to a whole new level. He threw himself between her and any attacker, even when it was something she could normally handle.  Kitty knew it wasn’t a reflection of his faith in her own skill, but it still ground on her nerves.

It especially got annoying when the rest of the crew did it. It was one thing when her husband and the father of her child was protective of her, but it still made her grit her teeth when Sanji and Luffy and the others started doing the same thing.

Eventually, the day came when Luffy ordered her to stay behind in a fight. She whirled on him, furious, only to be interrupted by Zoro. “I need you to stay here,” he said firmly. Behind him, the sounds of the fight already rose up, crashing and banging and shouting. Zoro laid his hand over Kitty’s abdomen, where she was already swollen up from her five months of pregnancy. “I know you can handle yourself but I can’t risk our child.”

Kitty’s lips curled in a frustrated snarl. “Don’t ask me to stay behind,” she pleaded.

“Please.” Zoro’s voice was rough. “Please do this for me. I need you two safe.”

As Kitty hesitated, Nami shouted out for help. Zoro’s stare was unyielding, even as she could feel him itching to unsheathe his swords and fight. “Alright,” she agreed reluctantly. “Go help them.”

She barely saw the flash of gratitude in his eyes before he disappeared into the fray.

\---

It was a full two days later before things calmed down for everyone to be on the Sunny, together and safe. Whenever everybody had finally showered and changed into clean clothes, Luffy had tried to have everyone throw a party, but everyone was just too tired to do anything but fall into bed. Kitty was already clean and curled up into bed by time Zoro stumbled into their room, clean but exhausted. He crawled into bed beside her and tugged the blanket over them both.

“Zoro.”

“Hm?”

“We need to talk.”

This got his attention. Zoro propped himself up on an elbow, earrings jangling quietly. “What is it?” he said seriously.

“I want you to know…I understand why you and Luffy asked me to stay behind. I don’t like it…but I understand,” she said quietly. Zoro nodded, waiting for her to continue. “Something tells me this isn’t going to be a one-time thing, especially as I get closer to the end of this pregnancy. I’m going to have to avoid fighting completely pretty soon. So I wanted to offer a compromise.”

“A compromise?” he repeated warily.

Kitty nodded. “I’ll stay back from fights for the rest of the pregnancy, and until I recover completely afterwards.”

“Alright. What are you wanting in return?”

She stared him down. “After this, unless our child’s life is in danger, you never ask me to stay behind in a fight. Ever.”

Zoro met her stare. “You know that isn’t something I can promise easily,” he said. “We can’t predict what will happen in the future. What if we come across someone else like Doflamingo?”

Kitty’s eyes softened as his fingertips brushed the white scar on the right side of her stomach, stretched and distorted by the growing body of their child. Being run through had hurt, sure, but she knew it wasn’t much compared to what Zoro had felt at that moment. “It might happen,” she said quietly. “Blackbeard could come knocking in a year. He could come after us tomorrow morning, we don’t know. But at least once I’m able to make sure our child is out of harm’s way, I won’t stay behind anymore. I need you to promise me.”

Zoro let out a long breath and ran his hand through his hair. “Alright, I agree,” he agreed after a moment.

\---

“I will pay you every single berry that Nami has ever stolen to take this baby out of me right now,” Kitty ground out. Beside her bed, Trafalgar Law shot her a sympathetic look.

“I know it’s painful, but you’re doing well,” he said calmly. “Everything looks completely healthy, and you’re moving along quickly. I’d estimate your child could be born within a handful of hours.”

“ _Hours_?” Kitty wheezed. Beside her, Zoro squeezed her hand comfortingly. “I’ve already been in labor for a full day, how much longer can this drag on?”

“It’ll last as long as it lasts,” Law said. He checked her IV and deemed it satisfactory before he moved on to the monitor where her heartbeat and blood pressure were displayed. “As long as the baby has already delayed, it could be even longer.”

She whined pitifully. She was grateful that the Straw Hats had the luck to find the Heart Pirates, and that Law had agreed to keep an eye on her during the last weeks of her pregnancy. Now that she was finally at the end, she couldn’t wait for it to be done. Pregnancy was damn uncomfortable at best.

Zoro had been quiet since she’d woken him early last night with the first signs of labor. She could read him well enough to know it was because of his extreme anxiety, but it was a relief to be spared any idle chatter. Law had expressly forbade the rest of the Straw Hats from entering the delivery room until after the baby was born, and even then until Kitty had rested enough to be able to handle visitors. He at least didn’t seem prone to sympathy pains, unlike Luffy who’d been complaining of a stomach ache all day, according to Law.

“Can’t you use your Devil Fruit power to do something?” Kitty begged.

“Like I said, you’re doing well. I’ll come check on you in another half hour; send Zoro-ya out here if anything changes.” Law closed the door behind him with a quiet click.

“He’s right,” Zoro said quietly. He kissed the knuckles of her hand. “You’re incredible.”

“You’re very sweet, but I don’t want to be incredible,” Kitty said tiredly. “I want to be done.”

“I know, but you’re incredible anyway.”

“Stay with me until our child gets here.”

Zoro smiled down at her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “The four emperors and all the warlords couldn’t drag me away.”

\---

It was a long, painful four hours more before Kitty, Zoro, and Law finally welcomed the tiny, pink, wailing baby girl into the world. Kitty cried from the moment her baby gave her first cry, all through Law cleaning her off and giving her a check up to make sure she was healthy. Zoro hovered anxiously over the doctor’s shoulder, staring at his daughter with wide-eyed wonder, until Law snapped at him to get out of his way.

Finally, the clean and swaddled child was placed in Kitty’s arms. Kitty sniffled and wiped her eyes before leaning down and kissing her daughter’s brow. Wispy strands of pink hair covered the top of her tiny skull.

When Kitty looked up at Zoro, his expression was absolutely awestruck. “You did it,” he said softly. He blinked away the sheen of tears in his eye as he leaned in. “I can’t believe it, she’s actually here. She’s so…tiny.”

“Babies are small.” Law interrupted their tender moment, bringing over a cup of water. Kitty drank it down greedily. “Everything looks fine with her, she’s 100% healthy. Congratulations,” he said with a smile. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’re you going to name her?”

Kitty stroked her daughter’s cheek with the pad of her finger. “Kaiho,” she said softly. “It means jewel of the sea.”

Law nodded in approval. “I’ll give you two some time.”

Then it was just Kitty, Zoro, and Kaiho, who’d fallen asleep. She felt Zoro’s stare on her and looked up. “What’s with that expression?”

“You’re so beautiful,” he said. His voice was thick with emotion. “You and our daughter.”

Despite being tired all the way down to the bone, Kitty felt a blush rise up. “You’re just biased because we’re married,” she said, waving him off.

“No. I’m not.” He brushed away the stray hairs from her sweaty face. “You’re stunning. You _made a person_. And Kaiho is every bit as beautiful as you. I’m so lucky.”

Kitty grabbed his chin and pulled his face down into a kiss. “We both are. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Kitty.”


End file.
